2 Thessalonians 2:8-12

2:8 and then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord ¹  will destroy by the breath of his mouth and wipe out by the manifestation of his arrival. 2:9 The arrival of the lawless one ²  will be by Satan’s working with all kinds of miracles ³  and signs and false wonders, 2:10 and with every kind of evil deception directed against ⁴  those who are perishing, because they found no place in their hearts for the truth ⁵  so as to be saved. 2:11 Consequently ⁶  God sends on them a deluding influence ⁷  so that they will believe what is false. 2:12 And so ⁸  all of them who have not believed the truth but have delighted in evil will be condemned. ⁹ 

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¹ tc ‡ Several important witnesses of the Alexandrian and Western traditions, as well as many other witnesses, read ᾿Ιησοῦς (Ihsous, “Jesus”) after κύριος (kurios, “Lord”; so א A D* F G L^c P Ψ 0278 33 81 104 365 1241 2464 pc latt sy co). But there is sufficient evidence in the Alexandrian tradition for the shorter reading (B 1739 1881), supported by the Byzantine text as well as Irenaeus. Although it is possible that scribes overlooked ᾿Ιησοῦς if the two nomina sacra occurred together (kMsiMs), since “the Lord Jesus” is a frequent enough appellation, it looks to be a motivated reading. NA²⁷ places ᾿Ιησοῦς in brackets, indicating some doubts as to its authenticity.

² tn Grk “whose coming,” referring to the lawless one. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek construction, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

³ tn Grk “every miracle.”

⁴ tn Grk “deception for/toward.”

⁵ tn Grk “they did not accept the love of the truth.”

⁶ tn Grk “and for this reason.”

⁷ tn Grk “a working of error.”

⁸ tn Grk “that.” A new sentence was started here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁹ tn Grk “be judged,” but in this context the term clearly refers to a judgment of condemnation (BDAG 568 s.v. κρίνω 5.b.α; cf. KJV “that they all might be damned”). CEV views the condemnation as punishment (“will be punished”).